“They need to pay you interest”: Woman says American Airlines charged her $3.6k by mistake—and refused to refund her
A woman says American Airlines wrongfully charged her $3,674.11 for a second ticket while booking a flight with her infant, and then refused to issue a refund. After three months of getting nowhere with customer service, Katie (@wellnessby.katie) took to TikTok on July 28, 2025, where her video quickly went viral and racked up over a million views. Only then did the airline agree to return the money.
Katie said if it weren’t for the views she got on TikTok, she’d never have gotten her money back. “This just goes to show the power of social media and the power of us being supportive of each other when the little guy is being crushed by huge corporations,” she said in a video shared July 30.
“Glad you are getting the money back but it should NOT require a major PR backlash against a company for them to do the right thing.”
American Airlines charged her $3,674.11 for an infant ticket by mistake—then refused to fix it
Katie was charged over $3,600 for a second ticket because American Airlines made an error while charging her a $386 fee to fly with her lap infant on an international flight to Japan. She immediately alerted customer service of their error and was initially told she would receive a refund within 5 to 7 days. When the refund didn’t clear after 7 days, Katie contacted American Airlines again. They told her to “just wait a little bit longer.”
Weeks passed and Katie continued to call and write to the airline’s customer service department. A full month after the refund should have posted to her account, a rep from the company dismissed her. She was told, “American Airlines is a really big company with a lot of customers, so we can't get to everybody immediately.”
Finally, American Airlines told Katie she wouldn’t be receiving the refund at all. “I spoke with a representative and they told me that they are not going to refund me because Japan Airlines checked me in under the ticket that I was charged,” she said.
Katie had exhausted all her resources so she turned to TikTok. The video received over 1 million views. Commenters shamed the huge corporation that bullied a customer and refused to take responsibility for their own error.
@wellnessby.katie Still waiting for my $3,674.11 @American Airlines @American Airlines #americanairlinesfail #aadvantage #pointsandmiles #airlinerefusestorefund #traveltips #creditcarddispute #milesandpoints @Max Miles Points @The Points Guy @zacharyburrabel @Julia | CREDIT CARD POINTS ✈️ @Ginny | points + miles travel ♬ original sound - wellnessby.katie
“That’s so unacceptable ???? who has 3500 sitting around in an account that isn’t being used. I would sue them for emotional distress.”
“If I lost 3k my life would literally be ruined.”
“This is the most American Airlines story I’ve ever heard.”
TikTok backlash finally gets her refund after 3-month battle
After three months of battling with customer service—and one PR nightmare ignited by her viral TikTok video—an American Airlines rep contacted Katie to let her know she’d finally get her refund. Katie updated TikTok users following her “customer service journey” in a July 30 post.
In her video, Katie thanked TikTok viewers for putting the pressure on American Airlines that led to her refund.
“I hate that the only way I was able to recoup my money was by posting a video, and I was lucky enough for it to go viral and for American to see it,” she said.
“And now I can sleep easier at night knowing that I haven't lost almost $4,000 that never should have been taken out of my account in the first place.”
@wellnessby.katie A TikTok success story! @American Airlines #americanairlinesfail #travelfail #aadvantage #pointsandmiles #traveltips #travelmom #militarywife ♬ original sound - wellnessby.katie
“Girl we don’t celebrate until it is IN your account! Not ‘going to be!’ We want follow through!!”
Yeah, stay tuned to see if the money actually makes it to Katie’s account.
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The post “They need to pay you interest”: Woman says American Airlines charged her $3.6k by mistake—and refused to refund her appeared first on The Daily Dot.